New resources!

I am very aware that I need to keep therapy fun. We are constantly asking the child to do the thing they find hardest – again and again. So to help keep a child engaged in therapy, many therapists use toys and games. However there are only so many times I can play Buckaroo in a day without getting very bored! So every now and then I like to buy new things! I thought everyone might be interested in my latest selection – so here it is! You can find all of these on Amazon and other retailers as well.

Laminating pockets :Now, I know this isn’t a toy and is fairly boring, but I get through lots of them and frequently buy more. I get the thicker 250 micron ones as they last longer. My reasoning is that a school or family are much more likely to practise the work I set if I have provided coloured, laminated pictures to do it with!

Orchard Toys – Any of you who read the blog will know that both Helen and I love Orchard Toys games. They have released a range of mini games which I am enjoying. I already have the penguin one so this time I bought the Dinosaur Dominoes and Crocodile Snap. So these are based on familiar games for many children. I frequently use these for adjectives – so as you turn over the card you have to tell me an adjective. I am also thinking that we can do some good multi syllabic words with the dinosaurs if I can remember all the names! You can also use these games as a motivator with any other activity or you want. So they are very versatile.

Tip: With some of these games I find they come with too many pairs and the game takes too long for some of my children, so I remove some of the cards first!

Chair Stack: I have lots of balancing and stacking games and find that may of the junior aged children I work with find them really motivating. You can again use this with any target you are working on. I thought this would be a good addition to my selection. You could also use it in a colour matching activity with a younger child. Not all the chairs are the same, but there is a good range of basic colours.

Tip: I am going to put these in a different box – It is so hard to get all the chairs back in and you end up wasting time otherwise.

Angel Bracket: I was excited about this find. It was more expensive at around £20, but the pieces are nice, smooth wood and they are big. When it arrived I was even more excited as there are example pictures inside the box, meaning you can use it as a barrier activity for expressive language skills. You can also use it as a motivator for any other target as well. Can you tell I like games that can be used for multiple different things? My son always gets first try on any new games I buy and this one was his favourite (he is 11).

Tip: For younger children I would get them to make the shapes by lying the blocks flat on the floor/ table. Balancing them is tricky. But for older children they can choose how to build up the shapes.

Stickers: I find I go through phases with stickers – at the moment not that many of the children I work with are particularly bothered about getting a sticker at the end of the session. However, one young man I work with who loves football requested the Juventus ones in the photo! I always have some superheros, animals, princess etc and shopkins have proved popular as well.